Terry tips
Ronaldo to beat Drogba to gong
John Terry has hailed Cristiano Ronaldo as the best player
in the world after his Professional Footballers' Association double
award nomination. The Manchester United winger is up for both young
player and player of the year, and the Chelsea and England captain
says he is a huge fan of his. "I could watch United just to watch
him. He does things no-one else in the world doing at the minute,"
he said. "He's the best in the world. At his best, not many people
can stop him."
As well as his skill, Terry said he admired the Portuguese's
personality for the way he handled the backlash against him after
his team put England out of the World Cup last summer. "It was
understandable after knocking us out of the World Cup, but he has
done all his talking on the pitch," said Terry.
"When he is at his best I don't think there are many people who can
stop him. When he is running at you like he does with his skills
and tricks, you don't know which way he is going. "A lot of teams
double up on him and he has often said he has two players to beat
in every game. "But you double up on him and then he passes the
ball to Wayne Rooney who does the same, so where do you stop? You
can't double up on everyone."
Ronaldo's team-mates Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes are also nominated
for the main award, as is Terry's colleague Didier Drogba, along
with Liverpool's Steven Gerrard and Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas. Wayne
Rooney, Ronaldo and Fabregas are also up for the young player
award, along with Tottenham's Aaron Lennon, Kevin Doyle of Reading
and Manchester City's Micah Richards.
"Didier has, arguably, been Chelsea's best and most consistent
performer this season - no mean achievement when he is playing
alongside so many top-class players at Stamford Bridge," said PFA
chief executive Gordon Taylor. He echoed Terry's opinion on
Ronaldo, 22, who has scored 21 goals for Manchester United this
season. "Cristiano is the most exciting player in the country at
the moment - the quickness of his feet and the skills he possesses
make you think, at times, that he is from another planet," added
Taylor.
